Last weekend, regional media wrote about the Swedish National Audit Office’s review of the efficiency at, among other organisations, Linnaeus University. The Swedish National Audit Office has carried out a review of the resource efficiency and productivity at Nordic higher education institutions during the period 2011–2016, and in June this year the report was presented. The outcome for Linnaeus University varies between the different years, from 8 percent inefficiency in 2012 to a full 30 percent in 2016.

The content of the report is complex but the internal analysis work of the report is now almost completed. The Swedish National Audit Office has used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as its method of analysis. It is based on a comparison between the higher education institutions’ resources and outcomes. The analysis has included staff, students, resources, and total area of facilities as input factors, and then put these factors in relation to performance in the form of completed higher education credits, number of defended doctoral theses, and number of published research articles in Web of Science and top quotations.

Since June, Lars Behrenz, adviser to the vice-chancellor, has worked to interpret the report’s basis and its outcome:

“We are positive to the fact that the higher education institutions’ use of resources is being analysed. Working with quality development and resource optimisation are two of our top priorities at the university and, therefore, the results from the analysis are very interesting”.

“However, there are different ways to measure efficiency. Some parameters in the review, within education and research, strike disproportionately at the way in which we have chosen to carry out our activities; for instance, the fact that we have such breadth and so many distance educations”.

The period included in the analysis may also be of significance. During the years 2011–2016, Linnaeus University developed its large, common organisation in Växjö and Kalmar. What is more, during that period, the work to review a large and partly overlapping selection of courses and programmes offered started; which has required, and still requires, a lot of resources.

“It is also worth noting that the review does not contain any measures of societal driving force or contract education, two of our commissions that have grown in scope where we actually contribute to making a difference in society”, says Lars Behrenz.

Thus, comparing the outcomes between the different higher education institutions comes with a number of challenges. Therefore, the main author of the report, Christian Andersson, has been invited to Linnaeus University in mid-September for an in-depth dialogue. After the board meeting that will take place shortly after, the senior management team will present further information.